Iran n-talks may go beyond deadline

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Members of Iran’s delegation talks with Iran’s atomic agency chief Ali Akbar Salehi in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 18, 2015. Senior officials from Iran and the P5+1 countries (the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain, plus Germany) on Wednesday kicked off a new round of nuclear talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

Talks to seal a deal over Tehran’s nuclear programme are likely to be extended beyond the self-imposed June 30 deadline, Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said in Vienna, state IRIB TV reported.

“The talks will continue until June 30 and may even go beyond that,” Araqchi said after arriving at Vienna airport for a new round of talks with representatives from world powers.

“We are not bound by time, but by the goal of reaching a good agreement, even if it needs more time,” he was quoted as saying.

The late June deadline was agreed on by the negotiators in November 2014 after their failed attempt to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal as the parties saw huge divide in limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity and the steps to lift sanctions that are crippling the Iranian economy.

Iran and the world powers will resume new negotiation rounds Wednesday in a bid to finalise an accord regarding the country’s disputed nuclear issue, Xinhua news agency reported.

Since 2008, Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers — the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, plus Germany — held several rounds of talks on a comprehensive nuclear accord.

Iran’s nuclear programme has long been a subject of concern for Western powers, who believe it to be geared towards developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the allegations, insisting that its nuclear programme is purely peaceful, and vows to maintain its inalienable right to develop its civilian atomic platform.

Western powers have imposed rounds of diverse sanctions on Iran.

In recent nuclear talks, Iranian officials have urged for total removal of economic and financial sanctions against Iran if a possible nuclear deal could be implemented. However, the Western powers insist on the gradual removal of sanctions.